I agree with you on featherweight.
Put all of the female fights in their own org. and have as many weight classes as you want.
If there is enough interest, it will do well, and I won't have to watch it.
If there is enough interest, it will do well, and I won't have to watch it.
A little soon for Atomweight in my opinion, but if the UFC made a division I have a feeling it’d fill up just fine in a couple years (slightly at the expense of Strawweight).
Really though, if the UFC wants to better develop both Featherweight, Atomweight, they need to pay for Invicta to be doubling the number of fights they put on each year (doesn't have to be twice as many shows, Invicta could easily do 9 shows with ~11 fights each instead of 6 shows with ~8 fights each), possibly with bigger purses for Featherweights.
I'm not gonna do a full breakdown like I've done in the past, but if you look at grappling, wrestling, judo, boxing, or kickboxing (muay thai or otherwise), every single one of them has a competitive ceiling for women of at least 145 lbs., usually higher. Laila Ali, Claressa Shields, and Anne Wolfe all have boxed or are boxing at roughly ~165 lbs. for instance.
The problem in MMA is that there are no high profile gigs for female Featherweights not named Cyborg. There are also very few places they can even earn a living. So the typical career trajectory of a female featherweight or lightweight with any talent is something like this:
-have a few amateur fights at 145-155, find some success, then turn pro on an indy show. So far so good.
-try to scrape together some sponsors, hope to land a spot in Invicta or Bellator, maybe take a few more fights as they get better at cutting smoothely to 145. At this point it still roughly mirrors the male experience.
-continue fighting wherever they can while also keeping a day job, whether in a major B-League like Bellator/Rizin/Invicta/M-1 or somewhere with less visibility. Find out that Invicta only has room for one fight a year, Bellator Pray at night that the UFC might fully open up their division.
-try to desperately squeeze down to 135, even if they'd be considered a natural FW if they were male. Maybe they succeed, maybe they don't.
-if they don't end up a UFC Bantamweight, they eventually leave the sport because of lack of opportunities and the risk isn't worth the reward.
Often all of the above happens. Yana Kunitskaya fought at 150 lbs. in Russia, including a 35-secon KO of Cindy Dandois, before leaving for several years and coming back. She's also a natural Featherweight, and supposedly she actually signed with the UFC to fight another natural Featherweight, before being pushed into a fight with Cyborg.
As a result the talent pool is smaller, female featherweights often struggle to find decent fights, and regardless of natural talent they're less likely to have as much time or money for training, and they're less likely to stick around.
If the UFC wants to build up challengers for Cyborg, and maybe even find someone as good or better than her, they have to full commit for the long haul financially. But investing in the sport isn't the WME way, so I don't see it happening.
Atomweight has a better shot because there appears to be more of them globally, and because it's much easier for a natural 105er to fight at 115 than it is for a natural 145er to fight at 135.
Really though, if the UFC wants to better develop both Featherweight, Atomweight, they need to pay for Invicta to be doubling the number of fights they put on each year (doesn't have to be twice as many shows, Invicta could easily do 9 shows with ~11 fights each instead of 6 shows with ~8 fights each), possibly with bigger purses for Featherweights.
I'm not gonna do a full breakdown like I've done in the past, but if you look at grappling, wrestling, judo, boxing, or kickboxing (muay thai or otherwise), every single one of them has a competitive ceiling for women of at least 145 lbs., usually higher. Laila Ali, Claressa Shields, and Anne Wolfe all have boxed or are boxing at roughly ~165 lbs. for instance.
The problem in MMA is that there are no high profile gigs for female Featherweights not named Cyborg. There are also very few places they can even earn a living. So the typical career trajectory of a female featherweight or lightweight with any talent is something like this:
-have a few amateur fights at 145-155, find some success, then turn pro on an indy show. So far so good.
-try to scrape together some sponsors, hope to land a spot in Invicta or Bellator, maybe take a few more fights as they get better at cutting smoothely to 145. At this point it still roughly mirrors the male experience.
-continue fighting wherever they can while also keeping a day job, whether in a major B-League like Bellator/Rizin/Invicta/M-1 or somewhere with less visibility. Find out that Invicta only has room for one fight a year, Bellator Pray at night that the UFC might fully open up their division.
-try to desperately squeeze down to 135, even if they'd be considered a natural FW if they were male. Maybe they succeed, maybe they don't.
-if they don't end up a UFC Bantamweight, they eventually leave the sport because of lack of opportunities and the risk isn't worth the reward.
Often all of the above happens. Yana Kunitskaya fought at 150 lbs. in Russia, including a 35-secon KO of Cindy Dandois, before leaving for several years and coming back. She's also a natural Featherweight, and supposedly she actually signed with the UFC to fight another natural Featherweight, before being pushed into a fight with Cyborg.
As a result the talent pool is smaller, female featherweights often struggle to find decent fights, and regardless of natural talent they're less likely to have as much time or money for training, and they're less likely to stick around.
If the UFC wants to build up challengers for Cyborg, and maybe even find someone as good or better than her, they have to full commit for the long haul financially. But investing in the sport isn't the WME way, so I don't see it happening.
Atomweight has a better shot because there appears to be more of them globally, and because it's much easier for a natural 105er to fight at 115 than it is for a natural 145er to fight at 135.
Atomweight coming to the UFC would have little to no effect on the strawweight division. There are only two current UFC Strawweights that have fought at Atomweight in the past: Waterson and Penne. Some of the larger fighters in that division have already moved up to flyweight, or plan to, so the smaller fighters have less to worry about
As for Atomweight, UFC doesn't need for them to put on more shows to find fighters for them, because that's what they pay matchmakers for. As I'm demonstrating with this series, the fighters are out there, they're just spread around in different regional promotions. Using Invicta to do the work for them is just lazy man's work, especially considering at least half of the top ten atomweights aren't fighting for them.
As for featherweight, it's a garbage division, always has been, always will be.
As for Atomweight, UFC doesn't need for them to put on more shows to find fighters for them, because that's what they pay matchmakers for. As I'm demonstrating with this series, the fighters are out there, they're just spread around in different regional promotions. Using Invicta to do the work for them is just lazy man's work, especially considering at least half of the top ten atomweights aren't fighting for them.
As for featherweight, it's a garbage division, always has been, always will be.
I would trade 145 for 105 in the UFC women’s division in a heartbeat if they could bring more that 3 fighters on the roster. GDR cheating then not defending, and Cyborg’s PEd and lack of realistic competition made 145 unsalvagable to me. IMO, this is the worst division in history.
I am waiting for electron weights
atom weights gas out too quickly for my liking
atom weights gas out too quickly for my liking